Wong (third left) launches a concrete road in Nanga Tutus. Fifth from left is Political Secretary to the Chief Minister Andrew Shilling.
SIBU: Villagers in Nanga Tutus, about an hour’s ride from here have reasons to smile as they will see the various sections of their earth roads linking with Sibu being upgraded to concrete roads under the Rural Transformation Programme throughout this year and next year.
This is the focus of the Barisan Nasional government in rural development and Second Finance Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh who is the assemblyman for Bawang Assan is keeping a close tap on these projects.
Just completed is a concrete road linking nine longhouses with Sibu which Wong declared open last week, costing nearly RM500,000.
The road stretching a few kilometres is 16 feet wide and benefits more than 1,000 longhouse folks. It is passable by cars.
When declaring open the road, Wong shared the aspiration of the BN government on rural development with the villagers.
He believed the Rural Transformation Programme would continue to change the face of the Bawang Assan villages.
Wong said this was possible because the villagers had formed a strong partnership with the government, adding more than 84 percent of the voters had put their trust behind the BN government.
He hoped in the coming state election, the villagers would again endorse this Rural Development Programme with the BN government.
Before Wong became the assemblyman of Bawang Assan more than two decades ago, Nanga Tutus was only accessible by river. It took nearly two hours for the villagers to reach the town then. Now, Nanga Tutus is just a one-hour comfortable ride for the villagers to reach Sibu.
Wong assured that the rural development in Nanga Tutus would continue.
“Next year, another stretch of earth road will be concretised and passable by cars at a cost of over RM200,000, “ he said.
The project would benefit more than 200 villagers of Rumah Stephen Bana, Rumah Michael Tengadang, Rumah Samakau and Rumah Engir.
Wong said the government was eager in this Rural Transformation Programme because they knew the pains the villagers had gone through riding on bumpy earth roads.
For the implementation of these rural projects, Wong said to the villagers, “Thanks for the trust in forming this strong partnership with the BN government. We shall continue to see better days in Bawang Assan.”